ottawa foodies

Hey everyone.

Welcome to another OF edition of monty's BBQ…

Today I’ll be covering Char Broil’s ‘The Big Easy’ Oil-less Turkey Fryer (“TBE”). I picked up one of these babies earlier in the winter when I was alerted to the fact that WM was blowing them out for a mere $50 (Item/SKU #1662928 if you’re looking for stock).

Char Broil markets The Big Easy as an "oil-less fryer". It’s essentially an infrared/radiant heat propane powered cooking oven. It uses an 18,000 BTU circular propane burner in an enclosed chamber to heat a large metal pot. The pot then radiates heat at your food with a great deal of power (don’t ask me to further elaborate on the science behind this). The efficiency is pretty amazing - you would be hard pressed to cook this hot and this fast on any grill with only 18,000 BTUs.

TBE is designed to cook anything you would normally roast – whole chicken, turkeys, beef roast/prime rib, pork shoulder, and any other large(r) cuts of meat. Really though, this thing shines at poultry. Whole turkey/chicken is finished under 10min/lb. The high heat also does an extremely good job of crisping up the skin. This is something hard to do in a lot of smokers so TBE is a perfect complement to something like a Bradley, Big Chief, etc.

Let’s take a look…

Here we are after a simple assembly. Note there is no variable power here – only an ON/OFF switch and an igniter. The hose hooks up to a standard LP tank. TBE has to be seasoned first by rubbing with oil and running on high for 15-20 min to burn any residue. Over time it seasons much like a wok or cast iron pan.

This is the pot/cooking chamber. The hole in the bottom allows any fat to drip down into an accessible grease trap.

Here’s the basket that lowers into the pot. The basket can hold a ~16lb turkey. Note the design – it’s intended for turkey but a lot of people modify them to hold chicken wings and small cuts by adding ‘levels’ to the basket using BBQ wire mesh (you can find this at a lot of Chinese grocery stores).

Grease trap. This will catch all drippings to be used for sauces, gravies, etc. The manual makes a point of noting that the trap itself is not made of food grade material so you have to line it with aluminum foil or a pan, which is somewhat wasteful.

First cook in TBE is a little 5lb roaster from my local butcher, Brian’s. A great thing about this unit is you can use dry rubs successfully, unlike frying. Try to avoid too much sugar as it can scorch easily.

Used a beer can chicken holder that kept the yard bird upright and added a little moisture. The dry rub I used has 14 ingredients including some celery salt, celery seed, thyme, sage, and lemon pepper.

In the basket and ready to be loaded. I used a small cake pan to raise everything up a little. I have read that one flaw in these cookers is a dead spot or cold spot at the very bottom center of the pot. Raising the bird ensures a more even cook.

Locked and loaded…

Highly suggest using a proper meat thermometer when cooking with TBE. This is my Maverick ET-73 probe which sends the IT wirelessly to a digital receiver (bad ass!).

This mesh lid for the unit is usually placed on at the end of a cook. It reflects or retains the heat inside the pot and really crisps up the outside of a bird and browns everything nicely. Be careful not to leave this thing on too long as it can easily incinerate the contents!

After ~1 hour the roaster hit 165F IT. My cake pan has also caught a nice amount of drippings for gravy.

WINNER WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER

Whoaaaaaaahhhh this turned out way better than expected. The skin was crispy and the chicken was incredibly juicy. You don’t quite get the same crunch and flavour as a fully submerged and deep fried bird, but TBE is much easier to use and cleanup.

The Char Broil Big Easy is really a handy little BBQ tool. High usability given the easy setup, quick cook, cleanup, and safety (vs frying). As noted, it really turns out great poultry. Highly recommended for anyone out there with a smoker – it’s a great complement.

See you next time.

-monty

It's 7h30 A.M. and i'm drooling.

Now I have to wait for another OF to be leaving town and selling me their spare TBE :( Nice job Monty.

wait until you guys try my version of Chicken Cordon Swiss

rofl ;)

Har har. :P

ps - don't ban me

chicken with GOYA Adobo 1

chicken with GOYA Adobo 2

chicken with GOYA Adobo 3

chicken with GOYA Adobo 4

come on people. Chicken Cordon Swiss?

that's gold, baby. GOLD!

chicken wangs

this required a little jimmy rigging

money

nice tan

Sapporo'd

I've heard of Sapporo Ichiban, but your photo looks more like Sapporo itchy-bum. Or maybe in-chicken-bum? :P

It looks awesome and reminds me I should get around to smoking a chicken one of these days! :)

Ah, so, that where Sapporo originates. Always happy to know more about where what I eat and drink comes from. Lovely!

ps: monty, I also loved the pic of the pumped-up, hard-assed Swiss bodybuilder above. Keep 'em coming!

Carolina Treet'd

Carolina Treet'd

Carolina Treet'd

Carolina Treet'd

Carolina Treet'd

Interesting device. Can you add soaked wood chips on the bottom tray to deliver a touch of smoke?

yes i have read it runs hot enough to smolder wood chips/pellets at the bottom, though i have never tried.

i typically run chicken through my dedicated smoker first and finish in The Big Easy to crisp up the skin.